Cloth or sponge holder.



UNITED STATES PATENT Curios,

LEXVIS E. VHITAKER, OF SUSSEX, NEXV JERSEY.

CLOTH OR SPONGE HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 696,125, dated March25, 1902.

Application filed July 25,1901.

T0 aZZ whom it Duty concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS E. W HITAKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at SusseX, in the county of Sussex and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cloth or SpongeHolders; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to a cloth or sponge holder, the device beingintended for use about the house for removing dust and cob; webs, and itmay be used for light floor mopping.

The object of the invention is to provide a device of this characterwhich shall be simple of construction, durable in use and comparativelyinexpensive of production, and by means of which sponges, cloth mops orbrushes may be easily and quickly attached and securely held in positionwhile in use,

With this and other objects in view the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts,which will be hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointedout in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of theholder, showing a sponge clamped or held in position; and Fig. 2 is atop plan view showing the sleeve moved inward and the prongs spreadapart.

In the drawings, 1 denotes a stick or handle, which may be made in oneor more sections and of suitable length, and 2 denotes the claws orjaws, which are preferably constructed of spring metal and have theirinner ends twisted together and secured in the stick or handle. Thenormal position of the jaws is shown in Fig. 2 spread apart, in whichposition they are held by the resiliency of the metal of which they areconstructed.

The sponge, brush, or cloth mop is adapted to be secured between theseclaws or jaws and held in place. The means employed for effecting thisconsists of a slide 3, which is preferably in the form of a ring andencompasses the claws or jaws. This slide is connected by a rod at to asleeve 5, preferably formed of a coiled spring, which encompasses thestick or handle and has a sliding engagc- Serial No. 69,684. (NomodeL) 4men't thereon. hen the sleeve is slid outwardly to compress the springjaws or claws to the article to be held between them, means are providedwhereby the sleeve is locked in its adjusted position, and in thepresent case these means comprise the rod 6, which extends inwardly fromthe spring and is preferably formed of the same wire of which the springis composed and has at its inner end a loop or bail 7, which is bentpartly around the stick or handle and has its end formed with a hook orcatch 8, which is adapted to engage one of a longitudinal row of studs9, secured to the handle and by means of which the sleeve is locked inadjusted position. Between the hook at the end of the bail and thestraight portion of the rod 6 is an intervening space, so as to permitthe bail to be slipped back and forth along the stick or handle past thestuds.

In operation, assuming the sponge to be placed between the claws or jawsand it be desired to clamp it in position, the stick is grasped with onehand, and the other hand is used to slide the sleeve outwardly, and whenthe sponge is firmly clamped by the claws or jaws the sleeve is given aslight axial turn or twist, which engages the hook with one of thestuds, and owing to the resiliency of the sleeve,the coilsofwhichhavebeen compressed in the act of forcing the slide outwardly,the hook is forced inward and held by spring action firmly in engagementwith the stud with which it coacts, so as to reduce to a minimum theliability of the hook becoming accidentally disengaged. To remove thesponge, the sleeve is first moved slightly outward to free the hook fromthe stud and then slid inwardly, thus moving the slide in the samedirection and allowing the spring jaws or claws to spread apart. Tolimit the rotation of the sleeve, so that the hook carried thereby mayalways be in proper position for action, I provide studs located at theouter end of the stick or handle and in the path of movement of the rodFrom the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the construction, mode of operation, andadvantages cf my invention will be readily understood without requiringa more extended explanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and details of construction maybe made within the scope of the invention without departing from thespirit or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a stick or handle, of spring claws or jawscarried thereby, a slide for compressing said jaws, a sleeve connectedto the slide, and means for locking the sleeve to the handle,substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a stick or handle, of spring claws or jawscarried thereby, a slide for compressing said jaws, a sleeve connectedto the slide, and means for locking the sleeve to the handle, said meansconsisting of a hook carried by an extension to said sleeve and studscarried by the handle, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a stick or handle, of spring claws or jawscarried thereby, a slide for compressing said claws, a sleeve mounted toslide upon the handle and consisting of a coiled spring connected tosaid slide, a hook carried by said sleeve, and studs carried by saidhandle to be engaged by said hook and held in place by the spring actionof the coils, substantially asset forth. 7 4. The combination with astick or handle, of spring claws or jaws carried thereby, a slide forcompressing said claws, a sleeve mounted to slide upon the handle andconsisting of a coiled spring connected to said slide, a hookv carriedby said sleeve, and studs carried by said handle to be engaged by saidhook and held in place by the spring'action of the coils, and studs forlimiting the rotation of the sleeve, substantially as set'forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

I LEWIS E. WHITAKER.

Witnesses:

IRVIN D. SHORTER, AMZI E. WOLFE.

